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[Medriev]

A scythe pierced Deloak’s already wounded shoulder and he gasped in pain, staggering despite the numbness that fixed him to the spot. Enlishia pushed blindly between the dwarf and Erlmoor, her sword cutting to her left to keep the cultist at bay while beside Erlmoor, Mandratan kept the other surviving cultist at bay. Dulvarna stabbed and slashed at the other cultist, tearing at robes and nicking flesh. It fell back before her onslaught. Enlishia gasped as her sight returned then and a furious onslaught burst upon the two cultists.

Mandratan stepped forward and felt a blade drive into his hip, forcing him back again as warm blood began to flow down his leg. Deloak roared and surged forward, the numbness finally leaving him.

“We have them now, friends,” he called out. “Honourable warriors never fall!”
At the far end of the shrine, Bairwin raised his voice in another dark prayer and then hurled a black bolt at Lavren that struck him and sent him reeling. Once more, his eyes grew dark and he stumbled, hurling crackling black fire blindly towards the cult leader. His blast struck the altar stone. Behind him, Erlmoor stabbed at the cultist nearest to him and then cried out in joy as he realised that the numbness had left him at last. The cultists shrieked and came forward, one plunging its scythe downward at Deloak once more. It pierced the dwarf’s breast just above his heart and with a gurgled gasp, Deloak fell to the floor of the shrine. Enlishia backed away form the battle then, sheathing her sword as she did so and unshouldering her bow. She loosed an arrow into the side of the cultist that had felled Deloak and the robed form shrieked in pain. Dulvarna surged forward and drove the cultist back further down the aisle with thrusts and cuts from her blade.

Mandratan parried the sword of his own foe but he was desperate now, knowing that he could not hold the cultist at bay for much longer. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Lavren was blinded again and that Bairwin was coming at him now with a stave in his hands. The cult leader struck the elf on his shoulder and sent him spinning around in the aisle while his hands flailed out for something to balance himself. At last, Lavren grabbed the end of a pew with his left hand and drew his sword with the other. Spinning around, he slashed out blindly at the cult leader, cutting open his robes across his chest and drawing blood from the flesh beneath. The elf’s eyes cleared then and he let go of the pew, advancing on the cult leader with a smile on his face. Enlishia retreated up the aisle until she was back to back with Lavren and then she loosed another arrow into the back of the robed cultist. The cultists shrieked again and staggered while at its back, Mandratan retreated into the aisle, drawing his own foe on, towards Erlmoor. Dulvarna stabbed at the enemy behind the wizard and it cried out as more blood was drawn from it. From the altar, Bairwin cried out desperately and the cultists came forward for one last time.

A blade nicked Erlmoor’s side before he swatted it aside and in the aisle, Bairwin drove Lavren back with another blow until he stood back to back with Enlishia again. Dulvarna fell back, wounded by the scythe that had felled Deloak. An arrow flew part the cultist and close to Dulvarna before burying itself in the wall behind the ebon haired woman. Enlishia nodded an apology to her friend and Dulvarna acknowledged with a nod of her own. Mandratan struck out with his stave and broke the nose of the cultist before him before retreating into the aisle. Even as he did so, Dulvarna stepped forward, plunged her blade into the belly of the cultist before her and dropped the man next to Deloak. The last cultist stabbed at Erlmoor and nicked his leg as the dragonborn knocked the blow aside. He looked down anxiously towards Deloak who lay behind him. Even as he looked, the dwarf’s breathing grew shallower and then as the dwarf gasped, it stopped.

Bairwin drove his stave into Lavren’s ribs and with a gasp, the elf staggered as the wind was driven from his lungs. Lavren stopped for a moment, panting for breath and then, with a deep breath he came back at the cult leader, his sword before him. The man parried with his stave until the pair reached stalemate once more. Behind him, Enlishia loosed another arrow that struck the last cultist in the arm. He cried out and then ducked back as Mandratan hurled a silvery bolt towards the man. Dulvarna leaped over her fallen foe and charged down the aisle towards Bairwin who was fearful now.

The cultist retreated, tearing cloth from its robes to bind its arm and pulling the arrow from the wound. The man cried out again and then Erlmoor was upon him in all his wrath. In the aisle, Bairwin retreated before Dulvarna and hurled a black bolt of shadow at the ebon-haired woman. It struck her but hurt her not at all and she came on at him, blade first. Behind her, Erlmoor cut down on the shoulder of the cultist before him, drawing forth another cry of pain from the man. He retreated another step but had nowhere to go even if he had been minded to flee. Lavren lashed out with his hand now and loosed black, crackling energy that struck Bairwin in the chest and drove him back a step. Behind Lavren, Enlishia continued her onslaught of arrows and beside him. Dulvarna rushed the cult leader.

The end was swift when it came. Mandratan hurled another silvery bolt at the last cultist that threw the man against the back wall of the shrine where he crumpled and fell. Dulvarna rushed Bairwin and at the last swept out with her sword, cleaving into his side, through ribs, lungs and then to his heart. He fell before her and she had to place her boot on his chest to draw forth her bloodied blade. She turned back towards the others and the carnage that surrounded them, her eyes settling at last on the fallen form of Deloak who Erlmoor now knelt beside. Slowly, the dragonborn looked up and shook his head.
“He is slain,” said the paladin then and grief took the companions.